Hello everyone, man has it been a while. Well I'm back today to bring you all a move set from one of my favorite gen 7 pokemon. Yes you probably seen it in the title.. it's none other than Togedemaru! Togedemaru was on one of my first vgc teams i made in this format. Togedemaru is one of my favorite support pokemon, it is a decently fast Fake Out user with other moves and an ability that help out a lot. Though it don't have the greatest of move pools, it's not meant to be an all out attacker anyway. Now then lets get on to the moveset.

For the ability i went with Lighting Rod. This ability is handy when you have a team that is weak or a maybe just 1 or 2 pokemon weak to electric types. Now I know what you're all saying, you can just have a ground type on your team and switch that in which is true. But you may not bring your ground type to all of your matches. This will allow any electric attacks to be redirected over to Togedemaru keeping your partner pokemon safe.

Item:

The Air Balloon is a nice item to have basically making it immune to one of its weaknesses. With Air Balloon no ground type moves will be able to hit you, if your balloon is still intact pokemon such as Garchomp wont be able to hit you with an Earthquake which could also help if you have an Arcanine on your team or Tapu Koko. Switch in Togedemaru in one of those slots or even on an Earthquake your opponent won't know what is going on (which could possibly put them on tilt).

Moves:

Alright guys and gals it's time to explain the moves.

First of I went with Zing Zap, what I believe is Togedemaru's signature move. The reason behind this move isn't really to deal damage, though it does have a decent base power of 80 and Togedemaru as stated above has a decent base attack stat of 98 it has potential to deal damage as you'll see in the damage calcs below. Another thing that Zing Zap has is that 30% chance to flinch its target. It's not going to get OHKOs but it will deal damage when needed.

For move number 2 I went with Spikey Shield. This move as you all may know is a form of Protect that damages a target using a physical contact move. Spikey Shield is good for when you want to catch maybe an Arcanine off guard going for that Flare Blitz onto your Togedemaru, and then dealing damage to itself in return. Also in VGC some form of Protect is nice to have on your pokemon, well most pokemon.

For move number 3 I went with Fake Out. Fake out is a move that you can use only once when your pokemon is first sent on the field. Fake Out has been a staple move in VGC for quite some time, next to Protect. Having Fake Out gives you so many opportunities and mind games you can play on your opponent. Whether your going to Fake Out the threat on the field or if your going to predict the protect on one pokemon faking out the other. Fake Out is nice to have to get some set up on your side, whether your faking out to tailwind or faking out to set up a swords dance, belly drum, or even a curse. Fake Out is for sure a really good move to have on a support pokemon.

For the final move I chose Encore. Now this move can win you a match in a critical situation, if you see a pokemon protect or use a set up move just Encore that pokemon to that move. Encore is a move that will lock a pokemon into the last move it used for 5 turns, only broken if switched out. This move can come in handy many times, if your opponent done know you have it or you save it for that one critical moment in a match it can win you games. Say your at a tournament and you win the first match and the second match is getting really close, you haven't revealed Encore yet. Well now is the time to do it when your opponents Snorlax went for a recycle to get its berry back and your opponent has 2 pokemon left. Encoring that Snorlax will render it useless leaving you an opportunity to win the game. Encoring your opponent into protect or another move can turn the tides in your favor, almost leaving your opponent to decide to I want to switch out and get rid of the encore or stay in and take damage. This really throws your opponent off, which is nice sometimes.

This pokemon isn't the bulkiest either, the point of this Pokemon is to be annoying really.

Potential Partners

Celesteela: Togedemaru works well with celesteela due to its Lightning Rod ability. If you happen to lead Celesteela into a Tapu Koko or another electric type pokemon, Lighting Rod will be able to redirect into Togedemaru. Also if you have Togedemaru in the back, just switch it in and no electric attack for your opponent.

Garchomp: Garchomp is really strong in the current meta. Togedemaru works well with Garchomp being able to Fake Out any of its threats leaving you to take that threat out with your own Techtonic Rage or set up a Swords Dance.

Arcanine: This paired up with Togedemaru is really nice as well. Arcanine's intimidate ability is nice to intimidate threats to Togedemaru such as opposing Arcanine or Garchomp, weakening the physical attacks from these pokemon.

Any water type pokemon: Basically any water type pokemon can be a partner to Togedemaru. Water being able to deal with the fire type pokemon that will threaten Togedemaru with Togedemaru being able to take all electric attacks threatening the water types with Lighting Rod.

These are just a few of the pokemon/type of pokemon that can work well with Togedemaru, this would go on forever if I kept going so I'll stop here :P.

In conclusion, Togedemaru is a very niche pick in the support role. Having access to Fake Out and Zig Zap giving you multiple chances to flinch your opponent's pokemon, and dealing damage to help pick up KO's that may not be picked up with out the chip damage. Encoring pokemon into protect and making your opponent decide whether to switch out or stay in to take free damage. Spikey Shield to protect you from damage and deal damage to contact physical attackers to also get chip damage is really nice to get again get KO's that may not have been. Overall Togedemaru is a pokemon that is meant to stick around and be annoying, Though it isn't the bulkiest of pokemon or even the toughest it fills the role on any team that leans on setting up. Whether you set up Tailwind, Trick Room, Swords Dance, Dragon Dance ect. Togedemaru is there to support your pokemon while redirecting and shutting down electric moves. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the set!

@yugiohtrav12 Nice to see someone other than me dote on Togedemaru. Love the set by the way, trav. It's a bit different than mine. I run Jolly nature and Nuzzle instead of Encore, just to give its appearance a little more permanence. But that's just my play style. Keep up the good work!